OLOF Mellberg has set his sights on adding one more goal to his tally before the end of the season.

And if he manages it against Arsenal tonight - the odds are that Villa will not lose.

The Swede notched his seventh in 241 appearances in the 3-0 win at Middlesbrough last weekend, and after another impressive performance at Blackburn in midweek, he will be going all out to make it a miserable week for Arsene Wenger's team tonight.

Mellberg has shocked the Gunners before, albeit 15 months ago when he kicked off Martin O'Neill's Villa revolution in fine style with a headed goal at the Emirates Stadium.

Now he is looking to draw level with good pal Martin Laursen.

"The target is two goals for the season if you are a defender playing the majority of a 38-game season, so hopefully I can get another," he said.

Just like when Ian Rush used to score for Liverpool, although not quite as prolific as the Welshman, whenever the big defender scores for Villa they never lose.

Okay, Mellberg's goal - the first ever at Arsenal's £390m new home - was only his sixth for the club in almost six years since his switch from Racing Santander in July 2001.

Mellberg's strikes have been rare indeed. He opened his account with a firm header past Fabien Barthez at Old Trafford in October 2002 (drew 1-1).

Mellberg then waited 17 months for his second, against Wolves at Molineux in March 2004 (won 4-0), when he again headed home.

Three more goals followed in quick succession for the Swede: against Albion at The Hawthorns (drew 1-1), against Newcastle at Villa Park - his only goal on home turf - in August 2004 (won 4-2), and at Blackburn - his only goal for Villa with his feet before last Saturday at Boro when he cooly slotted home after a Lee Cattermole error presented him with the ball - when he bundled home Mark Delaney's knockdown against Blackburn in October 2004 (drew 2-2).

For the moment, Mellberg is focused not on goals but on the prospect of Villa finally getting one over Arsenal for the first time since December 1998 when a second-half goal from Julian Joachim and two late efforts from Dion Dublin sealed the points after Dennis Bergkamp had scored twice in the first half for Arsenal.

Since then Villa have endured 12 defeats and five draws. Mellberg said: "The manager has tried to motivate us, give us confidence and make us believe we can get something out of games like these.

"We did well at Arsenal at the beginning of the season. It was important we got off to a good start and it gave everyone a lift.

"We approached the game differently than in the past when we have tried to play higher up the pitch and have a go at them which has created space for them and led to us conceding too many goals."

Mellberg and his team-mates will be hoping for a strong ref. They were hugely critical of Mark Halsey for allowing a quickly taken free-kick by Thierry Henry to stand in the league game at Villa in January 2004 - after the referee had been chatting to Henry.

Mellberg was also disappointed with Graham Poll's banter with the Arsenal team in the 3-1 defeat at Highbury in October 2004.